Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 192 The Cataclysmic Disaster!
"Spare me! Your Honor, spare me! I surrender, I surrender!"

One of the bandits threw down his broadsword, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed desperately to a group of Jing garrison soldiers walking towards him.

His forehead collided violently with the cold bluestone slab, producing a series of dull thuds, and soon his flesh was mangled and bloody, a truly gruesome sight.

An expressionless soldier from the Beijing garrison walked past him without even glancing at him, but instead thrust his spear backward.

The metal gun barrel, propelled by inertia, emitted a soft whooshing sound.

"Pfft."

The spear tip pierced the bandit's back with precision, penetrating his entire chest without any resistance.

The bandit's body stiffened abruptly, his kowtowing motion halting in mid-air. He looked down in disbelief at the cold spear tip, stained with his own blood, protruding from his chest.

"Why...why..." he asked incoherently, a large amount of bloody foam gushing from his mouth.

The soldier had already walked several steps away, without turning back, only muttering to himself, as if he weren't speaking to the dead.
"His Majesty has decreed that not a single one should be spared!"

On the other side, a group of more than a dozen bandits, seeing that the situation was hopeless, rushed frantically toward a gap in the wall that had been blasted open by artillery fire, trying to escape.

They thought that was the way out, the only hope to escape this living hell.

However, when they rushed out of the breach and breathed in the gunpowder-smelling air outside, they were greeted by a row of spears already lined up in formation.

The bandits at the front had no time to stop and crashed headlong into it.

The dull thud of countless sharp blades piercing flesh simultaneously.

They were like blocks of tofu hitting steel needles, easily pierced, and then pushed even deeper into the forest of spears by their equally unstoppable comrades swarming in from behind.

The slaughter continues.

The soldiers of the Beijing garrison, in small squads, calmly and efficiently cleared every blood-soaked alleyway and every corner where survivors might be hiding.

They worked in groups of three, with the shield bearer in front and the spearman and swordsman behind, their steps steady and their coordination excellent.

Doors were kicked open one by one, people hiding in water tanks were stabbed through with spears, and people hiding under beds were dragged out and beheaded.

The cries, pleas for mercy, and curses gradually faded away, eventually fading into deathly silence.

The first rays of dawn finally pierced through the thick smoke and fog over Tianjin, shining precisely on the iron shipyard, this newly solidified hell on earth.

The dawn is gentle, but the scene it illuminates is enough to drive any sane person insane.

Blood flowed like a river both inside and outside the dock.

The still-warm blood spilled across the uneven cobblestone path, forming eerie streams that meandered along.

In front of those warehouses ripped open by artillery fire, the snow-white smuggled salt cracked open, with some white salt grains mixing with red blood.

In the dim light of dawn, intertwined with the flickering flames in the distance, these impurities reflected a strange luster like that of inferior rubies.

Several bold crows had already landed on the top of the high watchtower. They tilted their heads and looked down at the sumptuous feast with their black bean-like eyes, occasionally letting out a hoarse and unpleasant caw, adding a final touch of despair to the deathly silence.

……

It was already broad daylight.

Inside the dock, a road leading to the center was quickly cleared, corpses were piled up on both sides, and bloodstains were hastily covered with a layer of yellow soil.

Zhu Youjian, the master of the Ming Empire, arrived on foot.

This striking bright yellow stood out so starkly against the gray backdrop of ruins, yet it also seemed sacred.

The emperor's expression was calm as he walked slowly through the blood-soaked land where the slaughter had just ended, his steps unhurried.

When he came to a corpse that was twisted beyond recognition, he did not lower his head, as if he intended to just step over it.

"Your Majesty, watch your step," Tian Ergeng whispered to him in a voice only the two of them could hear.

Zhu Youjian paused slightly, adjusted his direction, and calmly stepped over the corpse. His black boots, embroidered with a coiled dragon in gold thread, were inevitably stained with a dark red bloodstain.

But he didn't care.

Zhu Youjian walked to a warehouse that had been confiscated. The area was slightly higher, and the piles of smuggled salt had not yet been contaminated by blood.

Tian Ergeng immediately bowed and stepped forward, holding an ebony tray in his hands. On the tray were several samples of the most representative confiscated salts from various places, arranged in different categories.

There is green salt from Huainan, white salt from Zhejiang and Jiangsu, and coarse salt from Changlu that is mixed with impurities.

Zhu Youjian stopped and extended his long, slender, and fair hands.

His fingertips rubbed together gently.

Feel the rough texture, mixed with sin and death.

Then, as if suddenly losing interest, the emperor slightly raised his arm and casually sprinkled the pinch of salt on the ground, as if discarding a handful of worthless sand.

Then, he continued forward and walked to a row of makeshift long tables.

On the table, neatly arranged were the core ledgers that had been rescued from the fire pit and searched out of the secret room.

These are the monuments of evil built by the salt merchants with the blood and tears of countless people and the very foundation of the empire.

Zhu Youjian's gaze slowly swept over the covers of those account books, one by one.

To everyone else, the emperor remained completely silent throughout the entire process.

But his silence was more oppressive than any thunderous rage.

Tian Ergeng, Lu Xiangsheng, and all the ruthless officers and captains held their breath, not daring to even exhale.

They felt as if they were standing at the foot of a volcano about to erupt, its destructive power gathering deep underground, and all they could do was wait.

The entire world seemed to be filled only with the whistling of the wind blowing through the ruins, the cawing of crows in the distance, and the emperor's steady, rhythmic breathing.

Zhu Youjian did not come to judge the guilty; he only came to review his own achievements.

……

Outside the iron shipyard, there was a relatively clean open space.

Kneeling at the very front were the core leaders, headed by Ghost Hand Chen, who were stubbornly resisting in the Iron Shipyard.

They were chained with thick iron chains, their faces bloodless, their eyes vacant, like walking corpses. Behind them knelt officials of various ranks from Tianjin.

From the commander of the garrison to the salt transport commissioner, and even the lowly clerk of the patrol office, everyone was invited here.

Many of them were disheveled, their official hats askew, their faces ashen, and their bodies trembling like leaves in the autumn wind.

Behind the emperor, Bi Ziyan, Tian Ergeng, the commander-in-chief of the Beijing garrison, and other perpetrators of the crime stood with their hands at their sides, their expressions solemn.

In the deathly silence, the emperor finally spoke.

He said to Tian Ergeng behind him:
"Give the things to Minister Bi."

"According to the order."

Tian Ergeng stepped forward, holding the box made of fine nanmu wood in both hands, and handed it to Bi Ziyan.

Bi Ziyan stretched out his hands and took the box.

It felt cold to the touch and was incredibly heavy.

This weight comes not only from the wood and the copper lock, but also from the secret it carries, a secret powerful enough to overturn the government and the public.

With the emperor's tacit approval, Tian Ergeng stepped forward and used the key to unlock the copper lock.

Bi Ziyan took a deep breath and slowly opened the box lid.

He only glanced at it.

With just one glance, his heart, which had long been worn smooth by the turmoil of officialdom, was stirred up into a raging storm!

Inside the box, on the cover of the top secret ledger, was a name he could never have imagined!
As he flipped further down the page, he saw familiar and unfamiliar names of high-ranking officials in the south, provincial governors, and provincial judges, which seemed to slither into his eyes like venomous snakes.

Bi Ziyan's hand, which was holding the box, began to tremble violently.

This is no longer just about investigating the Tianjin salt case.

A terrible thought struck his mind like a bolt of lightning.

For a subject, rules and regulations are both a prison, a self-imposed confinement, and a refuge, a means to secure his life.

If you uphold it, the emperor will also uphold it, granting you dignity and respect, so that everyone speaks and acts within a visible framework.

But once you feel that this cage restricts your hands and feet, and want to explore outside the rules, then the emperor no longer needs to abide by any rules.

For the people of the land, an emperor who does not follow the rules and has swords in hand is not a storm, but a catastrophe!
By then, if the emperor wants to convict you, will he need any irrefutable evidence?
The fact that he disliked the use of just one word in your memorial was enough to justify your dismissal and exile three thousand miles away to feed mosquitoes.

As for whether that word was used correctly or not?

That's no longer important.

Because that memorial may very well have turned into a wisp of smoke in some brazier in the Forbidden City the moment you were convicted, an ashes that never existed!
Moreover, the evidence is now irrefutable!
Perhaps, from this moment on, the will of Heaven is no longer based on reason, but on joy and anger!
Fear and hesitation existed in Bi Ziyan's mind for only a brief moment.

He suddenly looked up at the emperor's profile, which was unusually calm, and understood the icy will within him.

The next moment, he suppressed all the surging emotions in his chest—shock, fear, hesitation—and transformed them into an unprecedented resolve.

He raised the nanmu box high with both hands, faced the emperor, and performed a full prostration, kowtowing heavily to the ground!

"Your subject, Bi Ziyan, obeys the decree!"

……

Only then did Zhu Youjian slowly turn around and turn his gaze to the dense crowd of officials kneeling on the ground.

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly throughout the entire venue and even into the skies above the Ming Dynasty.

"Bi Ziyan, I hereby appoint you as the Minister in charge of investigating the Tianjin case!"

"Investigate this ledger thoroughly! All those involved, regardless of rank or location, will be investigated and prosecuted without exception!"

Upon hearing this, the officials trembled even more violently, and many of them collapsed to the ground.

However, the emperor had not finished speaking.

He abruptly changed the subject, his voice rising sharply, carrying a powerful momentum:
"A portion of all confiscated property will be used to compensate the families of soldiers who were killed or wounded in this battle!"

He paused again, his gaze sweeping over the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison and the Embroidered Uniform Guard around him, who were armed and covered in blood.

"All the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison and the Embroidered Uniform Guard who accompanied me on this expedition will be rewarded! The soldiers of the Tianjin Garrison will receive an extra six months' worth of military pay!"

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured into boiling oil, instantly igniting the entire audience!
The soldiers who had just been carrying out a cold-blooded massacre suddenly had incredibly burning eyes!
Their gazes toward the emperor were filled with primal worship and fanaticism.

Shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" were faintly heard from the crowd, but were suppressed by the strict military discipline, creating an even more terrifying aura.

Just as the emperor was speaking.

Ghost Hand Chen raised his head. His ashen face was no longer filled with madness or despair, but with utter terror.

He knew why he and several other accountants who had also been deliberately spared were still alive.

They did not do so because of the emperor's benevolence.

They are just... keys.

It is that filthy key that can unlock that even bigger and darker den of iniquity in Jiangnan!
……

The decree has been issued.

Zhu Youjian slowly turned around and looked at the officials and salt merchants kneeling on the ground one last time.

“In the past, and recently…”

He paused slightly, and the whole world seemed to stand still for a moment. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the final judgment.

"I have given you all a chance."

Then he delivered his concluding remarks:

"Now, it's gone."

(End of this chapter)